Shan Goshorn, Chain Reaction
Shan Goshorn
1957-2018
Eastern Band Cherokee
Date
2014
Medium Specific
Arches watercolor paper splints printed with archival inks, and acrylic paint
Classification
Mixed Media
Dimensions
10 x 8 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm)
Accession Number
2019.35.25.01
Credit
Gift of Robin Ballenger
Memo / Artist Statement
This Cherokee single-weave basket is woven with two documents that illustrate the violent attitude that America expresses toward Native people. The background splints feature some of the current high statistics of violence directed at Indian women including facts such as: "3 out of 4 Native women will be physically assaulted in their lifetime, Native women are 10 times more likely to be murdered than any other group of women, 1 in 3 native women will be raped in their lifetime, and 88% of crimes against Indian women are by non-natives but tribal courts have ZERO authority to prosecute them." The splints are washed in purple, black and blue paint emphasizing the severity of this brutality.
The rust colored design is a traditional Cherokee pattern called "Chain", woven from the 1892 speech given by Captain Richard H. Pratt (founder of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, PA), where he coined the school's mission in the phrase "Kill The Indian, Save the Man". Native children were removed from their loving families and paced under his care where they were frequently punished for perceived infractions, most often when caught acting "Indian".
The Native population continues to suffer attached more frequently than any other group of people in the country at the hands of non-Indians. In 2004, a U.S. Department of Justice 10-year study entitled "American Indians and Crime" reported on the overall violent crime rate and found that 1 out of 10 American Indians and Alaskan Natives has been a victim of violence. That rate is twice as high as the rate for blacks, two and a half times higher than whites, and four and a half times higher than Asians. The study also found that "American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race," with 70% of all reported violent attacks perpetrated by non-Indians.
It is time for all of us, regardless of our race or ethnicity, to break this chain of senseless violence.
(with artwork sale, 2014)
The rust colored design is a traditional Cherokee pattern called "Chain", woven from the 1892 speech given by Captain Richard H. Pratt (founder of the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, PA), where he coined the school's mission in the phrase "Kill The Indian, Save the Man". Native children were removed from their loving families and paced under his care where they were frequently punished for perceived infractions, most often when caught acting "Indian".
The Native population continues to suffer attached more frequently than any other group of people in the country at the hands of non-Indians. In 2004, a U.S. Department of Justice 10-year study entitled "American Indians and Crime" reported on the overall violent crime rate and found that 1 out of 10 American Indians and Alaskan Natives has been a victim of violence. That rate is twice as high as the rate for blacks, two and a half times higher than whites, and four and a half times higher than Asians. The study also found that "American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race," with 70% of all reported violent attacks perpetrated by non-Indians.
It is time for all of us, regardless of our race or ethnicity, to break this chain of senseless violence.
(with artwork sale, 2014)
Biography
Eastern Band Cherokee artist Shan Goshorn has lived in Tulsa since 1981. Her multi-media work has been exhibited extensively in the US and abroad. Her baskets belong to prestigious collections such as the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC), Denver Art Museum (CO), Gilcrease Museum (OK), Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (NM), CN Gorman Museum (UC Davis, CA), Minneapolis Institute of Art (MN), Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (IN), The Museum of the Cherokee Indian (NC), Surgut Museum of Art (Russia), and the Nordamerika Native Museum (Switzerland). She has been awarded top honors such as (selected) First Place Basketry at 2015 and 2014 SWAIA Indian Market, Best of Class at 2013 SWAIA Indian Market, 2013 Heard Museum Indian Fair and 2012 Cherokee Art Market; the Innovation Award at 2012 SWAIA Indian Market; and Grand Prize at 2011 Red Earth Indian Art Exhibition. Goshorn's painted photographs (many of which address stereotypes and racism) have toured Italy with the Fratelli Alinari "Go West" Collection, and have been exhibited in venues including York, England's Impression Gallery; twice in NYC's American Indian Community House Gallery (once in a three person show entitled "Dispelling the Myth; Controlling The Image" and again in a two person show about repatriation called “Ghost Dance”); the Wheelwright Museum (NM); the Franco-American Institute in Rennes, France; the International Arts Alive Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa; and “BIRD 2005” in Beijing, China. In 2006 and again in 2009, she was one of 25 international, indigenous artists asked to present work at the conference Our People, Our Land, Our Images and Visual Sovereignty hosted by the CN Gorman Museum at the University of CA at Davis.
Shan has served on the Board of Directors of the American Indian Heritage Center (OK) as the first vice chair and of NIIPA (Native Indian/Inuit Photographer's Association, Canada), and has been appointed by the mayor to serve on the Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission and the Arts Commission of Tulsa. She has also served on the Second Circle Advisory Board of the national native arts network ATLATL and as a consultant to the Philbrook Museum of Art (OK) for their touring basketry exhibition, Woven Worlds. Presently she is serving in an advisory position for the Tulsa City/County Library for their American Indian Collection, including the American Indian Festival of Words native author award.
Shan Goshorn is the recipient of the 2015 United States Artist Fellowship, 2014 Natives Arts and Culture Artist Fellowship, 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, the 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, the 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship and the 2015 United States Artists Fellowship.
www.shangoshorn.net/about-shan/
Shan has served on the Board of Directors of the American Indian Heritage Center (OK) as the first vice chair and of NIIPA (Native Indian/Inuit Photographer's Association, Canada), and has been appointed by the mayor to serve on the Greater Tulsa Indian Affairs Commission and the Arts Commission of Tulsa. She has also served on the Second Circle Advisory Board of the national native arts network ATLATL and as a consultant to the Philbrook Museum of Art (OK) for their touring basketry exhibition, Woven Worlds. Presently she is serving in an advisory position for the Tulsa City/County Library for their American Indian Collection, including the American Indian Festival of Words native author award.
Shan Goshorn is the recipient of the 2015 United States Artist Fellowship, 2014 Natives Arts and Culture Artist Fellowship, 2013 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, the 2013 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, the 2013 SWAIA Discovery Fellowship and the 2015 United States Artists Fellowship.
www.shangoshorn.net/about-shan/
Date of Bio